The Heir of Merlin
by Neteri Adaar
Summary: What was the power the Dark Lord knows not? Yes, love is part of that power, but not all. What other protections and enchantments did Lily place on Harry that night in Godric's Hollow?
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

Lily sat on the couch watching James play with little Harry. James was making little showers of colorful bubbles with his wand. Harry was having the time of his life grabbing at the bubbles and giggling every time one would pop. Lily smiled at the sight.

She got up from the couch and was just about to announce that it was Harry's bedtime when something silver appeared out of the corner of her eye. She turned. A silvery doe patronus was standing in the living room.

"Did you cast that?" James asked.

Lily shook her head. Then the doe spoke.

"Get out of there! He's coming! He knows! Go!" it shouted.

James grabbed Harry and handed him to Lily. She tightened her arms around the baby and made a grab for James' hand.

BOOM!

The front door had just been hit with a powerful spell and it wasn't going to be able to withstand another. James turned to Lily; a strange look was blazing in his hazel eyes.

"Take Harry and go! I'll hold him off as long as I can," he said, his voice was strangely calm.

Lily's eyes widened.

"No! Not without you!" she protested.

KABOOM!

The door blasted open and in walked a tall, pale figure with crimson eyes. Voldemort. A cruel smile was on his lips.

"GO!" yelled James.

He pushed her and Harry away from the door and stood in front of them. Lily hesitated. She couldn't leave him. Then she looked down at Harry and she immediately made her choice. She held him closer, as if to shield him, and ran up the stairs. She reached the top when-

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green spell hit James square in the chest and sent his limp form flying onto the stairs. Dead. Lily bit her lip to stifle a scream. She tightened her arms around the crying baby and ran into the nursery.

Tears ran down her face as she cast as many protective wards as she knew. She then placed Harry in his crib. He was still crying.

"It's alright Harry. You're going to be alright." She stopped, hearing Voldemort begin to take down the wards.

"Harry you are so loved, so loved. Harry, Momma loves you. Daddy loves you." More wards cracked and fell. It wouldn't be long now.

Lily looked her son in the eyes and placed her hand on his head. Her voice held a strange sort of power as she spoke.

"Harry, be safe. Be strong," as she said these words, her green eyes turned white and glowed. Harry stopped crying and stared. His teary green eyes were no longer green, but shining white.

The last ward fell as Lily broke eye contact with Harry. Their eyes immediately switched back to their normal green.

Lily stood up and turned towards the open door, blocking Harry from view. Voldemort moved toward the crib but Lily blocked him.

"Stand aside," he hissed.

"Not Harry! Please!" she pleaded.

"I'll give you one last chance. Move aside now!" he snarled in impatience.

Lily shook her head. Her eyes were determined.

"Very well. Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green light erupted from Voldemort's wand and arched towards Lily. It hit her in the chest, and she fell, lifeless, to the floor. Her green eyes stared at the ceiling but there was no life in them. She was gone.

Voldemort turned to Harry, his snakelike face was twisted into a sick smile. Harry just stared up at him.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The bolt of green light headed straight for Harry. Just as it was about to make contact with him, Harry's skin and eyes glowed white, and a pearly white shield formed around him. The curse hit the shield and broke through. It hit Harry on the head, but it bounced off and into Voldemort's astonished face. He flew backwards and his body exploded into ashes.

He was gone. For now.

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><p><em>AN: Please review. I want to know what you think. _

_I am so excited! This is my first Harry Potter fanfic! *squeals loudly* Sorry! Couldn't help myself! _


	2. Chapter 1: Letters and Spirits

**Chapter 1: Letters and Spirits**

Severus walked up to the stone gargoyle. He glanced around to make sure that no one else was in the vicinity.

"Snickers bars," he said, reciting the ridiculous password with disgust.

Of all the passwords Albus could have chosen, he had to choose the names of muggle candies. Severus remembered one time when Albus had chosen _Sour Patch Kids_ as the password. He grimaced as he remembered having to utter the absurd phrase every time he had to enter the Headmaster's office. Needless to say, Albus had very few willing visitors to his office that month before the password was changed. (_A.N. I took the idea of the password from the fanfiction "Severus's Rose"_)

The stone gargoyle jumped aside as a long spiral staircase came up from the ground. Severus walked up the familiar spiral staircase and up to the door. He knocked.

"Come in," came the Headmaster's gentle voice. Severus opened the door and entered the oval room. He walked up to the desk where the Headmaster was sitting.

"You sent for me, Headmaster?" he asked. Severus had a feeling that the Potter brat had something to do with this meeting. This was the year when Harry Potter would come to Hogwarts, after all.

"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered one of the candies to Severus, who sneered at the candy in revulsion.

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled in amusement at Severus's expression. He unwrapped the lemon drop and popped it in his mouth.

"As you have probably guessed, I would like to talk to you about little Harry Potter," Dumbledore said with a slight smile as he sucked on the lemon drop.

"What about him?" Severus asked icily. This only seemed to make the Headmaster even more amused than before. Severus gritted his teeth.

Dumbledore placed a small envelope onto the table.

**Harry Potter**

**The Cupboard Under the Stairs**

**Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging**

Severus read the address and frowned in confusion. He blinked and read it again. The Cupboard Under the Stairs? It must be a mistake. How could Potter's son be sleeping in a cupboard?

"I don't understand. Why does it say 'The Cupboard Under the Stairs'?" Severus asked.

"I don't know. But I am hoping that it does not mean it literally," the Headmaster replied with a frown.

"What is the purpose of showing me this, Albus?"

"I want you to deliver this letter to Harry Potter."

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><p>Harry bit his lip to keep from crying out as Uncle Vernon dragged him inside the house by his hair. Harry didn't know why he was being punished for the escape of the python. It wasn't his fault that the glass vanished in order to let the snake out, and then reappear when Dudley was inside, trapping him in the python's habitat. It was <em>her's<em>.

Uncle Vernon threw Harry into the cupboard and locked the door.

"No meals!" Uncle Vernon growled.

Harry heard Uncle Vernon's heavy footsteps head toward the kitchen where Aunt Petunia was drying off a very wet Dudley. He sighed.

"Stupid Dursley," a voice to his left muttered. "Are you alright Harry?"

Harry looked up to see a pair of concerned, emerald eyes. He rolled his eyes and gave her a smile.

"I'm fine mum." Lily's pale hand reached up to touch the spot on Harry's head where Uncle Vernon had dragged him by his hair. Her ghostly hand passed through his head before she withdrew it with a frown.

"Really, I'm fine," Harry said again.

Lily sighed and then glared at the cupboard door as if it had insulted her. She sat in the corner of the cupboard with her legs drawn up to her chest, so as to give Harry more room. She sighed in frustration and put her head back against the wall, closing her eyes.

"This is not the first time I have wished for a body of my own so that I can give my _dear_ sister a piece of my mind," She growled before adding softly, "Nor will it be the last time."

Harry couldn't see her eyes, but he knew that they would be sad if they were open. He reached up and touched his hand to hers. He could almost feel the soft skin of her hand against his. Lily's eyes didn't open, but she smiled.

Several minutes passed in comfortable silence before the doorbell rang. Light footsteps moved down the hallway towards the door. Aunt Petunia opened the door. A shrill, terrified scream rang through the house, putting Harry and Lily on high alert.

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><p><em>A.N. I know. I'm a horrible person to leave the chapter like this. Oh well! Everything about Lily will be explained soon. I promise.<em>

_Review and leave me some love. Or hate. I gladly welcome both praise and criticism. Anonymous reviews are welcome as well. Five reviews and I'll update in a couple of days. If not, I'll still update, but it won't be as soon. _

_Adios amigos! _


	3. Chapter 2: The Man in Black

**Chapter 2: The Man in Black**

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><p>Severus apparated on Privet Drive with a loud CRACK. Fortunately, the street was deserted, and no one saw or heard the strange man in black robes suddenly appear on the street.<p>

Severus still couldn't believe that Dumbledore had convinced him to deliver the letter to the brat. Maybe it was the curiosity to see Lily's son that made him agree to going. Severus dismissed the thought immediately. This was Potter's son he was talking about.

He walked down the street with the stealth of a cat and stopped at the house that had the Number 4 on its door. Severus moved up the driveway and up to the door. He knocked.

A moment later, a tall, thin, horse-faced woman with a false smile opened the door. Petunia Dursley. Severus smirked as he watched the color drain completely from her face. The false smile was immediately replaced with a look of shock and utter terror. She let out a high pitched scream that reminded Severus of the sound of fingernails scraping against a chalkboard.

Petunia tried to slam the door, but he stuck his foot in the way. Ignoring the pain in his foot, he pushed the door open. Severus quickly went inside and shut the door. Petunia was standing in the hallway, frozen in fear.

"Hello Tuney. Miss me?" he said with a sarcastic sneer.

A short, fat man with a purple face waddled into the room with a shotgun. Vernon Dursley. A fat, blond boy was cowering behind him. The moment Dursley saw him, his purple face twisted with rage. He pointed the shotgun at Severus.

"I must ask you to leave now! You are breaking and entering!" he bellowed.

Severus merely smirked and waved his wand at the shotgun. Mr. Dursley pulled the trigger and the gun burst into a bunch of confetti. Mr. Dursley stared at the pile of confetti that was once a shotgun and he looked up at Severus with fear in his eyes. Mr. Dursley's normally purple face was strangely pale. Petunia gave an odd squeak and ran to hide behind her husband.

"W-what do you want?" stuttered Mr. Dursley.

"I am here to deliver a letter to Harry Potter," Severus replied, looking around at them. They didn't move.

"Well, where is he?" he snapped impatiently.

Mr. Dursley moved over to a small cupboard door and unlocked it. When he opened it, a small boy with messy, black hair tumbled out and fell to the floor. The boy stood up and looked up at Severus with bright green eyes hidden behind large glasses. He wore a baggy, grey shirt, baggy jeans, and shoes that were held together with duct tape.

* * *

><p>Harry and Lily stared through the small vent in the cupboard door at the scene. The moment the man in black entered the house, Lily's eyes widened and she gasped.<p>

"Sev," she breathed.

_So this is Severus Snape,_ thought Harry. He couldn't see him very well, but he could hear him.

"I am here to deliver a letter to Harry Potter," he paused for a moment, waiting for an answer. There was none. "Well where is he?" he snarled.

Harry heard footsteps coming towards the cupboard. Unfortunately, Harry had been leaning on the door when it had suddenly opened. He fell rather unceremoniously out of the cupboard and onto the carpeted floor.

"Harry, are you alright?" mom asked, worry in her voice again.

"Fine," he muttered, low enough to that no one else could hear.

Harry scrambled to his feet and looked up at the man in black called Severus Snape. He was tall, pale, and had sallow skin, a hooked nose, and greasy black hair. His black eyes were staring at Harry in shock. Then his expression morphed into anger.

* * *

><p>Severus's expression became murderous as he turned his gaze on the Dursleys, who cowered under his glare. He gripped his wand tightly, fighting off the urge to hex them or turn them all into little cockroaches and squish them.<p>

"How dare you keep the boy in a cupboard! How dare you give him rags to wear while your son has new clothes!" Severus hissed in his lowest, most dangerous voice.

Petunia and her son looked absolutely terrified of Severus now. But Mr. Dursley seemed to regain some of his anger at Severus's words. Mr. Dursley's face regained some of his purple complexion.

"We have given him a roof over his head and the food off our table an-and—" he stopped when he saw Severus's wand pointing at his throat.

"One more word and you will wish you had never been born!" Severus hissed in his low, dangerous voice.

His glare would have made a basilisk look pathetic. Severus was just about hex the purple-faced man when he felt a tugging on his robes. He looked down and saw Potter looking up at him with wide, emerald eyes. Harry looked him straight in the eye and then looked at the Dursley. His eyes snapped back to Severus and he shook his head, as if to say, _Don't do it. They're not worth it._

Severus felt something touch his shoulder. There was a flash of red and green in the corner of his eye. He looked up. There was nothing there. He stared at the empty space. Severus had thought he'd seen her for a moment… no, that was impossible. Lily was dead.

He shook himself slightly, and then turned back to the frozen Dursley.

"I am taking the boy away from here and he will not be coming back. At least not while I have something to say about it. Now. Get. Out. Of. My. Sight!" he snarled.

The Dursley moved numbly toward Petunia and the fat boy. He grabbed their arms and pulled them out of the room, never turning his back on Severus.

Severus turned to face the boy. Lily's green eyes stared up at him in awe.

"You must be a very powerful wizard," he breathed, his eyes still wide.

Severus couldn't squash the smirk that spread on his face. _Take that, James Potter!_

The boy put out his hand to Severus.

"I'm Harry Potter," he said smiling.

"Severus Snape," he said, shaking Harry's hand. "I will be your Potions teacher at Hogwarts."

Severus hoped that Potter knew about Hogwarts. But judging by his look of excitement, he already did. At least the Dursleys told him about his world somewhat.

"You mean I've been accepted, sir?" he asked.

"Yes Potter. I have your acceptance letter with me. I'll show you when we leave," Severus said rather impatiently.

The boy's jaw dropped slightly.

"You said I'm not coming back. Is that true, sir?" he asked.

"Do you want to come back?"

Potter shook his head vigorously.

"Then, bring anything you wish to keep. I will buy you new clothes at Diagon Alley tomorrow, so don't bring any other clothes," Severus ordered.

Harry nodded and then disappeared into the cupboard. After a moment, he reappeared with a small, spiral-bound sketchbook in his hand. Severus raised his eyebrows at the lack of any other possessions, but the boy just shrugged.

"Now, we shall be off," Severus said.

He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and guided him out of the house. A moment later, there was a loud crack, and then silence.

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><p><em>A.N. I am so sorry it took so long to update! This chapter took forever to write, and school has been horrible lately. I'll update as soon as I can!<em>

_Anyway, review and tell me what you think. This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction, so please be nice!_

_Five reviews, and I'll update ASAP._


	4. Chapter 3: Order and Chaos

**Chapter 4: Order and Chaos**

A man in dark green robes stood in a dimly lit, circular room in front of an oval mirror. Unlike most mirrors, this one did not appear to possess a flat and glassy surface. Its surface seemed to roll like the waves of a calm ocean. But that was not what made this mirror so special.

Images dashed across the mirror, almost as if it were a television. People and places from all over the world, even the magical worlds, flashed by. The man stared at it, seemingly transfixed and hypnotized by the images. But that was not the case. The man's wide eyes absorbed every detail without even blinking.

He was an unusually tall man, easily standing at almost 7 feet tall. Long, ink black waves of hair fell past his shoulders and around his proud, sculpted face. His strong jaw flexed from time to time as certain images flashed across the mirror. However, exactly what the man saw in the mirror was unclear. To an outside observer, the images were jumbled and contorted in odd fashions, and they skipped by at lightning speed to the point where it all looked like a mess of moving colors.

Out of the blue, the room began to shake and tremble as if was being rocked by a mild earthquake. Lamps shook and swung from where they hung on the wall. The man tore his gaze away from the mirror and glanced around, surprise in his dark emerald eyes. The waves in the mirror were, oddly enough, completely still, and the mirror itself was blank.

Then, as suddenly as the quake began, it ended. The man refocused his attention to the mirror and touched its odd surface. The mirror sprang to life again, the contorted colors even brighter than before.

A gasp of disbelief left the man as he stared into the mirror, puzzled by whatever he saw. He arched a dark eyebrow as an amazed expression took over his face.

"Severus Snape, what are you doing with Harry Potter?" he murmured to himself. "You're not supposed to be there."

"Disappointed, Order?"

Order whirled around, catching sight of a woman on the other side of the room. She wore a simple, white gown underneath a dark, hooded cloak. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a long single braid that reached to the floor. Pale blue eyes stared at him with the barest hint of a twinkle. He smiled.

"You brought the letter to Albus Dumbledore's attention, didn't you?" Order asked, though he already knew the answer. "You know that you cannot interact with the mortals yet. Those are the rules."

The woman rolled her eyes. "And I did not," she replied, a little miffed. "I merely encouraged the wind to blow the letter in his general direction. The rest, I had no control over."

"Oh, so you are saying that Snape's arrival in Little Winging was not your doing, Chaos?"

Chaos lifted her chin up a fraction and smirked. The spray of freckles on her nose and cheeks made her look even more mischievous than before. The gesture was answer enough.

Order sighed and lifted a hand to rub his face. He blinked tiredly.

"You realize that if we make one wrong move on this one," he began seriously. "the wizarding world will crumble. We cannot afford to make mistakes. Not this time."

A loud snort echoed throughout the large, circular room. From the other side, Chaos chuckled darkly. Her normally light and cheerful eyes were surprisingly grim. Order frowned at his companion's odd reaction.

"You were not as concerned when it came to the safety of Lily," she said sardonically. "Or even little Harry, for that matter."

"I thought she would have stopped him!" Order exploded. "She had the power to do so! But instead, she gave almost all of it to her son!"

"And now our little girl is dead."

Order stopped short and stared at the sorrowful expression on Chaos's face. For the first time in a while, the god felt his own sorrow claw at his heart.

"Emrys, our little boy, is dead," she continued, her teary eyes trained on the floor at her feet.

After a pause, Chaos lifted her wet and red-rimmed eyes and glared at Order.

"And it was all because we followed your _brilliant_ plan," she growled. "So you must forgive me if I am less inclined to follow your instructions about how to deal with Harry."

Without another word she vanished, leaving behind nothing but the faint crackle of magic in the air.

Order cursed under his breath and turned back to the mirror. Already, his plan for the future had practically gone down the drain. Because of her interference, Order was for the most part flying blind.

He did not blame Chaos for what she did. He could never blame her. But that did not stop him from trying to fix the mess she made.

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><p>A.N: So yeah, I'm back! Sort of. An idea hit me the other day and, well, here it is. Not entirely sure what to make of it, but it's been too long since I've posted anything on my stories.<p>

Anyway, tell me what you think by leaving me a review! Reviews make me happy.


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